Profile: Ms Rachel Hawkins graduated with a Bachelor of Design, majoring in Graphics and Textiles from the College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales in 2006. A strong believer in continuing education, she then went on to study a Masters of Cross-Disciplinary Art and Design, completely online, graduating from College of Fine Arts, The University of New South Wales in 2012. Rachel brings to Virtu this wealth of knowledge and experience in online study platforms and online collaboration. In 2012, Rachel also attained the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, adding LLN in 2013.

Ms Hawkins’ professional career began in the graphic design department of Sydney based fashion house, Jets Swimwear, from there she went on to work in commercial digital design and print in Vancouver, Canada.

On her return to Sydney, Ms Hawkins moved into senior design roles at entrepreneurial companies leading graphic design with a strong marketing focus; working with high profile brands such as: Sydney Water, AMP Capital, Centro Properties Group, GPT, Starlight Children’s Foundation, Lilydale Chickens and Bodytrim. Ms Hawkins is an experienced product and packaging designer with product ranges in Coles Supermarkets and Priceline stores.

During the last eleven years in the industry Ms Hawkins’ creative and conceptual capabilities have seen her undertake projects in product design, packaging design, corporate identity, advertising, marketing, signage and web based campaigns.

Profile: Recently returned from working in Asia for the past 11 years, where his he was lecturing at Raffles Design Institute in Shanghai, China. Simon has returned to Melbourne to do consulting in design and design education and to undertake a research masters degree in Design Education.

Over the past 15 years Simon has been involved in the Design industry and Education in Asia, his background before lecturing was in publishing design and advertising in Australia and South East Asia. He has worked on more than 40 titles in publishing, such as Harpers Bazaar, Cleo, Dolly, Female, Nu You and Women’s Weekly.

Simon has lectured in Diploma and Degree programs in Singapore, Saigon and Shanghai and has also had the experience of being involved in the co-ordination and delivery in China of the BA honors from Northumbria University, UK.

Under his guidance students have won many awards including: the Crowbars, Young Guns, Future Brand’s Future Talent Awards, General Electric’s Silver Ribbon and consistent international recognition in the D&AD Student Awards.

Profile: Cal Swann was Professor in the School of Design at Curtin University of Technology, Australia. Prior to that, he was Professor and Head of the School of Design at the University of South Australia and before that he was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at Liverpool Polytechnic (now Liverpool John Moores University) in England. He was Head of Graphic Design at London’s Saint Martin’s School of Art in the 1980s, among many other teaching and design roles around the UK.

His special interest is in typography and the communication of language in its spoken and printed forms. An MA in Applied Linguistics from Lancaster University in 1986 saw the two disciplines merged in Language and Typography (1991, Lund Humphries),

following the earlier how-to-do-it manual Techniques of Typography (1969, 1981) also for Lund Humphries (Watson Guptill in the US). He has written many articles for journals and presented papers in international conferences (just Google ‘Professor Cal Swann’). A former Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers (UK), Cal has been a designer and educator in England and Australia throughout the last five decades.

Retired from the full-time grind, he continues to design graphics, write articles, teach typography workshops, play enthusiastic (but amateur!) jazz, and enjoy family life under a cloudless, Australian blue sky.

Profile: As a professional designer who joined the ranks of academia full time in 1994, Professor Newman brings a mix of design and business experiences to higher education and an acute business acumen to the management of projects and academic units.

Professor Newman completed his studies in Industrial Design at the National Art School (NAS) in the early 1970s and has held various design and design management positions in Australia and Europe. Senior design positions with Philips, Email and for six years as Research and Development Manager for Sebel Furniture paralleled his editorial stewardship of the national magazine Design in Australia and various executive roles within the Design Institute of Australia (DIA).

For five years in the late 1980s Professor Newman was the Chief Executive Officer of the public company, Exhibit Resources, which he established, a company involved in design and fabrication of museums and exhibitions. Professor Newman has

held many board directorships and consultancy positions to major companies.

Professor Newman was Head of School of Design Studies, College of Fine Arts (COFA), the University of New South Wales (UNSW) for eight years from 1992 to 2000 and from 2002 for 4 years he was Director & Dean of Sydney College of the Arts, the visual arts Faculty of the University of Sydney. In January 2005 Auckland University through its business incubator, IceHouse, appointed Professor Newman into a parallel role as Entrepreneur in Residence, a residency designed to initiate new collaborations within Auckland University and encouraging outreach to the commercial community of New Zealand.

In September 2006 Professor Newman left the University of Sydney, to join Raffles Education Corp (REC) to become Vice President and later (2008) President of Raffles University System, at REC’s headquarters in Singapore. Professor Newman left REC in 2011 and is currently CEO of Virtu Institute.

Profile: Design is my life. I am Design. Dot, line, shape, form, space, colour, composition, light and shade, balance and rhythm, are inseparable elements of my life. When each element comes together in perfect harmony with the other, it creates a wonderful design. However there is a charm in imperfection too. Imperfection holds a true potential to be perfect! I believe that it is human to be imperfect and this journey of life is the progression that could lead to perfection. Therefore I would best describe myself as a Student of Life.

My area of interest and proficiency is in the field of Visual Communication with majors in Graphic, Web and Interaction Design. I am fond of an interdisciplinary approach to design. My rich international exposure has provided me with the opportunity to draw connections between unique cultures, trends and design. It has also helped me relate and to communicate clearly and effectively with students of all levels. In my classes I aim to develop an interactive environment in which students can express themselves creatively and to make learning more meaningful.